Eat Street Markets opens drive-in cinema

A retro outdoor cinema experience is coming to Eat Street Markets in November.

Located minutes down the road from Eat Street Markets along Macarthur Avenue, the drive-in cinema will open on Friday 6 November with a screening of rev-head fantasy Furious 7.

“The area the drive-in is sitting on, which is the old Cirque du Soleil site at the bottom end of Macarthur Avenue, is the site we’ll eventually be moving Eat Street Markets to,” says Eat Street Markets director John Stainton.

“That move will happen within the next 12 months, probably, because the site that we’re currently on will start being developed within the next year or so. We thought that before we move everything down there, we should put something there to activate the site and get people used to going there, even though it’s only two minutes further down the road.

“It’s an ideal spot for a drive-in theatre — it’s sitting there on the banks of the Brisbane River, and it’s got a fabulous view of the city. We figured all we’d have to do would be to build a diner, put a big screen up and project movies onto it, so that’s what we’ve been setting up for the last few months!”

The drive-in will run every Friday and Saturday night, in tandem with Eat Street Markets. Patrons can buy hot food at the Markets and bring it with them to the drive-in; there’ll also be a retro diner at the drive-in serving traditional candy bar treats.

You won’t need to leave your car to go to the diner, however, as wait staff will come to you. “All the service is on Segways,” John explains.

“We’ve got ushers on Segways, and they’ll bring everything to your car. As you enter the drive-in, you’ll get a yellow flag with a little suction cup on it. If you need service while you’re in your car, you just stick your flag on the roof, and an usher on a Segway will find you, take your order and bring it out to you. It’s great — you don’t have to get out of your car to do anything!”

Patrons will be able to either watch movies from their cars or walk in (the Northshore City Cat is located nearby) and sit on one of 200 Moon Chairs up front. “If you’re sitting in the Moon Chairs, your vision is just filled with the screen,” John says. “We’ve got a big screen — it’s as big as anything in Queensland. It’s a great way to see a movie.”

The drive-in cinema will only run until the Eat Street Markets relocate to the new site. “That’ll be the end of the drive-in,” John confirms, “but we’ll incorporate the screen into the new Eat Street Markets as an outdoor cinema. So the screen’s not going anywhere, but you won’t be able to bring your car in, so in that sense, the drive-in is only on for a limited time — take advantage of it while you can!”

In order to avoid a pile-up at the front gate, tickets must be pre-purchased in advance at movies.eatstreetmarkets.com.au. Ticket prices include free entry to Eat Street Markets.

UPDATE: We’ve got six spots at the Eat Street Drive-In to give away to Bmag readers on both Friday 6 November and Saturday 7 November — enter now to win your spot!

What movies do you want to see on the big screen at the drive-ins? Have your say in the comments below!

We will be getting Spectre, Hunger Games and also doing some special nights with older classics so keep watching our website each week for new movies. Next week is “Trainwreck” then “Everest”. See you at the Drive In.